Book Review: Secrets of Ancient America

Review by Mac Graham

Archaeoastronomy and the Legacy of the Phoenicians, Celts and other Forgotten Explorers

By Carl Lehrburger

In a combination of exhaustive field research, historiography, personal reflection, polemic and cultural lament, Carl Lehrburger solidly defends his contention that our acceptance of history (and the history we accept) defines who we are.

Debunking the dogma that Columbus in 1492 began the history of Europe’s (and others’) influence on the New World, he posits instead that interaction began as early as the second century BCE, as demonstrated through artifacts of Phoenician language and the diffusion of elaborate European calendrical and astronomical concepts, which he traces among a long list of ancient American monuments, mounds and petroglyphs.

Highly readable and engagingly written, Lehrburger sidesteps the dusty drone of many a scholarly tome. He follows the diffusionist debate since the 1970s with compassionate, bilateral fairness that often convinced me (the eternal skeptic) of exactly what he argues against—only to turn again with the next wave of evidence and refined speculation. As the personal account of his quest advances, so does progress toward greater understanding of ancient mysteries and of our potential for future growth as an intelligent, empathetic and believing species. Personal participation in the still-unfolding new paradigm keeps the pages turning.

All history seems revisionist—painted in the hues of our collective beliefs—and Lehrburger offers his new version. In conclusion he exposes and slays the dragons of the “archeopriesthood”—their still persistent “flat-earth” science, historical conspiracies and cover-ups—to redefine our role in nature and history as inclusive participants, rather than conquering exploiters; as harvesters of the collective rather than selfish greed- and power-driven ends—hallmarks of our new history. (Bear & Company)